PRENZLAUER BERG

'Prenzlauer Berg' is a former borough of Berlin situated in the eastern part of the city. In 2001 Prenzlauer Berg was combined with the former boroughs Pankow and Weißensee under the name of Pankow.
After German reunification in 1990 Prenzlauer Berg soon attracted young people, often referred to as hipsters, with its alternative lifestyle.

Contents

History

Prenzlauer Berg today

Places of interest

External links

History

Prenzlauer Berg was developed during the second half of the 19th century based on an urban planning design from 1862 by James Hobrecht, the so-called ''Hobrecht Plan'' for Berlin. Envisaged as a working-class district, its tenement houses ''(in German: Mietskasernen)'' were mainly inhabited by intellectuals, artists, and students in the former German Democratic Republic. Since German reunification, Prenzlauer Berg's urban apartment block structures have, for the most part, been renovated. This and rising property values have led to more wealthy residents moving into some areas of the borough.
Older buildings like the water tower, near Kollwitzplatz, or the ''Prater Beer Garden'' in Kastanienallee, as well as the old breweries still give an impression of the days when Prenzlauer Berg was part of so-called ''Steinernes Berlin (Rocky Berlin)'' as described by author Werner Hegemann in 1930.

Prenzlauer Berg today

Countless pubs, restaurants, cafés, galleries and little shops create a day and nightlife atmosphere unrivalled in the rest of Berlin.
Prenzlauer Berg has become famous for being one of the few places in Germany where there has actually been a baby boom in recent years. There is an abundance of playgrounds Helmholtzplatz, Kollwitzplatz, kitas (kindergartens) and shops selling toys and second hand childrens clothing.
Kollwitzplatz and Helmholtzplatz with weekly street markets, the former breweries ''Kulturbrauerei'' and ''Pfefferberg'' and ''Kastanienallee'' are the hot spots of interest. Prenzlauer Berg also boasts one of the most important gay scenes in Berlin - especially in the area around U-Bahnhof Schönhauser Allee

Places of interest

★ Kollwitzplatz and Helmholtzplatz on market days

★ Jewish graveyard on Schönhauser Allee where painter Max Liebermann and composer Giacomo Meyerbeer are buried

★ Synagogue in Rykestraße

★ Gethsemane church, former meeting place of the resistance in the GDR

★ Mauerpark (former location of the Berlin wall)

★ Wasserturm (water tower), designed by Henry Gill, constructed by the English Waterworks Company and finished in 1875.

External links

★ Map of Prenzlauer Berg in 1836 [1]

★ Map of Prenzlauer Berg in 1893 [2]

★ Map of Prenzlauer Berg in 1961 [3]

★ Map of Prenzlauer Berg in 1989 [4]

★ Virtual e-Tour Mauerpark Shockwave Player required

★ Private website about life in the "kiez", history and landmarks (including maps and satellite view)

★ Synagogue in Rykestrasse prior to its present restauration

★ Photograph of the water tower – Detail 1 Detail 2

★ BBC article about the baby boom in Prenzlauer berg